William Witney

William Nuelsen Witney (May 15, 1915 – March 17, 2002) was an American film and television director. He is best remembered for the action films he made for Republic Pictures, particularly serials: Dick Tracy Returns, G-Men vs. the Black Dragon, Daredevils of the Red Circle, Zorro's Fighting Legion, and Drums of Fu Manchu. Prolific and pugnacious, Witney began directing while still in his 20s, and continued working until 1982.

Biography Witney was born in Lawton, Oklahoma. He was four years old when his father died, and he lived with his uncle, who was an Army captain at Fort Sam Houston. Colbert Clark, Witney's brother-in-law, introduced him to films by letting him ride in some chase scenes for the serial Fighting with Kit Carson (1933). Witney stayed around the Mascot Pictures headquarters while preparing for the entrance exam to the U.S. Naval Academy. After he failed that exam, he continued at the studio.

In 1936 Mascot was absorbed by Republic, and Witney was now working for studio president Herbert Yates. He was an assistant on the serial The Painted Stallion when director Ray Taylor's drinking problem had gotten out of hand and Taylor had to leave the location. Witney replaced Taylor, and became a director permanently.

Witney teamed with director John English for several of Republic's most successful and best-remembered serials. Witney is credited with devising the modern system of filming movie fight sequences. Instead of filming a crowd of people wildly throwing punches at each other, as in a barroom brawl, Witney broke the action down into separate, carefully choreographed shots, which he patterned after the dance sequences in Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals.

During World War II he served in the US Marine Corps combat cameraman unit.

Following the war, Witney returned to public directing many of Roy Rogers' and Rex Allen's Westerns. He directed the 2nd unit battle scenes of The Last Command (1955) and three juvenile delinquent movies The Cool and the Crazy (1958), Juvenile Jungle (1958) and Young and Wild (1958).

When Republic closed in 1957, he directed films for American International Pictures and Associated Producers Incorporated.

Witney found freelance work in television. He directed the Jim Davis syndicated adventure television series, Rescue 8, which aired from 1958 to 1960 as well as several episodes of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer 1958-1960 TV series. He became one of the staff directors of the CBS network series The Wild Wild West. Witney's serial experience was ideal for this series, which ended each quarter-hour with a suspenseful cliffhanger.

He made feature films in the 1960s, such as Master of the World (1961) starring Vincent Price and Charles Bronson, several Westerns for Audie Murphy; Apache Rifles (1964), Arizona Raiders (1965) and 40 Guns to Apache Pass (1966) as well as The Girls on the Beach (1965).

In the 1970s he directed I Escaped from Devil's Island (1973) starring Jim Brown and Darktown Strutters a 1975 blaxploitation musical comedy.

Personal life Witney was married to former actress Maxine Doyle until her death in 1973. In his later years he was a popular speaker at film and nostalgia conventions. He died of a stroke in 2002.

Appraisal Quentin Tarantino has called him "one of the greatest action directors in the history of the business." Tarantino considers four films as Witney's best work: The Golden Stallion (1949), a Roy Rogers vehicle, Stranger at My Door (1956), The Bonnie Parker Story (1958), and Paratroop Command (1959).

He was also admired by Bertrand Tavernier.

Selected filmography

The Law of the Wild (1934) (serial) - assistant director The Phantom Empire (1935) (serial) - assistant director The Miracle Rider (1935) (serial) - editor The Vigilantes Are Coming (1936) (serial) - assistant director, script supervisor Darkest Africa (1936) (serial) - script supervisor Red River Valley (1936) - script supervisor Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island (1936) (serial) - editor Dick Tracy (1937) (serial) - editor, 2nd unit director The Painted Stallion (1937) (serial) - director S.O.S. Coast Guard (1937) (serial) - director The Trigger Trio (1937) - director Zorro Rides Again (1937) (serial) - director The Lone Ranger (1938) (serial) - director - edited into the feature Hi Yo Silver! (1940) The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938) (serial) - director Dick Tracy Returns (1938) (serial) - director Hawk of the Wilderness (1938) (serial) - director The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939) (serial) - director Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939) (serial) - director Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939) (serial) - director Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939) (serial) - director Heroes of the Saddle (1940) - director Drums of Fu Manchu (1940) (serial) - director Adventures of Red Ryder (1940) (serial) - director King of the Royal Mounted (1940) (serial) - director Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940) (serial) - director Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) (serial) - director Jungle Girl (1941) (serial) - director King of the Texas Rangers (1941) (serial) - director Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (1941) (serial) - director Spy Smasher (1942) (serial) - director The Girl from Alaska (1942) - director (uncredited) Perils of Nyoka (1942) (serial) - director King of the Mounties (1942) (serial) - director Outlaws of Pine Ridge (1942) - director G-Men vs. the Black Dragon (1943) (serial) - director Roll on Texas Moon (1946) - director Home in Oklahoma (1946) - director The Crimson Ghost (1946) (serial) - director Heldorado (1946) - director Apache Rose (1947) - director Bells of San Angelo (1947) - director Springtime in the Sierras (1947) - director On the Old Spanish Trail (1947) - director The Gay Ranchero (1948) - director Under California Skies (1948) - director Eyes of Texas (1948) - director Night Time in Nevada (1948) - director Grand Canyon Trail (1948) - director The Far Frontier (1948) - director Susanna Pass (1949) - director Down Dakota Way (1949) - director Land of Opportunity: The American Rodeo (1949) (documentary) - director The Golden Stallion (1949) - director Land of Opportunity: The Sponge Driver (1949) (documentary) - director Bells of Coronado (1950) - director Land of Opportunity: Tillers of the Soil (1950) (documentary) - director Land of Opportunity: Mardi Gras (1950) (documentary) - director Twilight in the Sierras (1950) - director Trigger, Jr. (1950) - director Sunset in the West (1950) - director North of the Great Divide (1950) - director Trail of Robin Hood (1950) - director Spoilers of the Plains (1951) - director The Wild Blue Yonder (1951) - actor Heart of the Rockies (1951) - director In Old Amarillo (1951) - director South of Caliente (1951) - director Pals of the Golden West (1951) - director Colorado Sundown (1952) - director The Last Musketeer (1952) - director Border Saddlemates (1952) - director Old Oklahoma Plains (1952) - director The WAC from Walla Walla (1952) - director South Pacific Trail (1952) - director Old Overland Trail (1953) - director Iron Mountain Trail (1953) - director Down Laredo Way (1953) - director Shadows of Tombstone (1953) - director The Outcast (1954) - director Stories of the Century (1954–55) (TV series) - director Santa Fe Passage (1955) - director The Last Command (1955) - 2nd unit director City of Shadows (1955) - director Headline Hunters (1955) - director The Fighting Chance (1955) - director The Last Command (1955) (battle scenes) Stranger at My Door (1956) - director A Strange Adventure (1956) - director Panama Sal (1957) - director Zorro (1958–60) (TV series) - director The Cool and the Crazy (1958) - director Juvenile Jungle (1958) - director Young and Wild (1958) - director The Bonnie Parker Story (1958) - director Mike Hammer (1959) (TV series) - director Special Agent 7 (1959) (TV series) - director Lassie (1959) (TV series) - director Paratroop Command (1959) - director Sky King (1959) (TV series) - director Rescue 8 (1959) (TV series) - director State Trooper (1959) (TV series) - director Frontier Doctor (1956–59) (TV series) - director Riverboat (1959–60) (TV series) - director Wagon Train (1959–65) (TV series) - director Valley of the Redwoods (1960) - director Overland Trail (1960) (TV series) - director The Secret of the Purple Reef (1960) - director M Squad (1960) (TV series) - director The Tall Man (1961) (TV series) - editor, director Coronado 9 (1960–61) (TV series) - director The Long Rope (1961) - director The Cat Burglar (1961) - director Master of the World (1961) - director Frontier Circus (1961–62) (TV series) - director Tales of Wells Fargo (1961–62) (TV series) - director Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) - 2nd unit director The Virginian (1962–69) (TV series) - director Wide Country (1963) (TV series) - director Laramie (1963) (TV series) - director The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964) (TV series) - director Marnie (1964) - 2nd unit director Destry (1964) (TV series) - director Apache Rifles (1964) - director The Girls on the Beach (1965) - director Arizona Raiders (1965) - director The Wild Wild West (1965) (TV series) - director Branded (1966) (TV series) - director Laredo (1966–67) (TV series) - director Daniel Boone (1966–67) (TV series) - director Bonanza (1966) (TV series) - director 40 Guns to Apache Pass (1967) - director Hondo (1967) (TV series) - director Tarzan (1967–68) (TV series) - director The High Chaparral (1967–68) (TV series) - director I Escaped from Devil's Island (1973) - director The Cowboys (1974) (TV series) - director Kodiak (TV series) - director Darktown Strutters (1975) - director Quell and Co. (1982) Showdown at Eagle Gap - director, actor